Misunderstood
by Maiar Altsoba
Summary: The 9th Doctor has regenerated into the 10th, and Rose is confused....AU. Song fic. with Mika's 'My Interpretation'. Cross-posted to my deviantart account
1. Chapter 1

The Doctor was bouncing around the TARDIS, flicking switches, and tugging levers, leaving her standing silently by the door.

"...where should we go next, eh? We've done the end of the world...what about creation and the birth of everything? we saw it all die, so we may as well say it all come into existance..." the Doctor paused briefly and gave her an anxious look, "you are ok aren't you? I'm not boring you am I?"

Rose shook her head, and gave a small smile to hide it all.

_you talk about life, and talk about death  
and everything in between like it's nothing,  
and the words are easy_

"You sure?" he walked over to her slowly, his eyes searching her face.

"It's fine," Rose shrugged. This new version of the Doctor would take some getting used to. Whilst her Doctor had been inclined to brood, and stand in silence for long periods of time, this new one (he wasn't her Doctor) was like a small, excitable puppy.

"Do you remember when I first met you?" he asked gently, "I said one word...just one..."

"Run." Rose finished, withdrawing her hand._  
_

_  
you talk about me, and you talk about you  
and everything I do like it's something, that needs repeating  
well I don't need an alibi or for you to realise the things we left unsaid  
are only taking space up in our heads  
_

_  
_The Doctor, sensing Rose wasn't ready for this proximity from his new embodiment backed away and fell into silence. In his mind he was reliving every moment he'd travelled with her, seeing every emotion pass over her. Rose was thinking of her time with the old Doctor, and she couldn't make the new one fit. It wasn't his face she saw when she closed her eyes, or his voice she heard reassuring her. He was a stranger. Both of them remembered how they felt, but what Rose felt was for a different man. One she would never get back_.  
_

_  
make it my fault, win the game,  
point the finger, place the blame,  
it does me up and down, it doesn't matter now  
_

_  
_Rose looked at the Doctor, trying to make out she was looking at the TARDIS. If she hadn't looked into the vortex, they wouldn't be here now. But it made no difference. Her Doctor would still be gone. The man she loved wouldn't be there._  
_

_  
'cause I don't care if I ever talk to you again  
this is not about emotion, i don't need a reason  
not to care, what you said, or what happens in the end  
this is my interpretation and it don't,  
don't make sense  
_

_  
_The Doctor frowned at his hands. The hands that had held Rose's hands and led her from danger so often, many times at a run, other times at a slower pace. But if she didn't want him, then that was fine. They'd go back to earth, she could go back to her mum and Mickey.. The Doctor swallowed hard and tried to ignore the twisting sensation in his stomach- it wasn't fair. He'd done it before, and he'd promised not to do it again. But he had. She'd followed him, and saved his life...and since then, he'd felt the feeling grow inside of him. But if she didn't want him, it wasn't fair to make her stay.

"Come on...I'll take you home." The Doctor said quietly.


	2. Regretting

_Here I stand alone with this weight upon my heart,_

_And it will not go away._

Rose stood in silence, her blonde hair blowing across her face, as she watched the TARDIS fade away. She knew that this was her decision. If she'd asked if she could stay, he would have let her. She knew the Doctor wouldn't have said no- he was so lonely. He always had been.

_In my head I keep on looking back, right back to the start,_

_Wondering what it was that made you change._

When she thought back to the man living in his horrific nightmares that had taken her on so many adventures, she could feel the tears threaten to take her over. But at the same time she knew it wasn't just her who had changed. She'd made him changed. She'd help ease away some of the hurt that dominated him. Rose had helped the Doctor to believe that there was chance for him to be happy again.

_Well I've tried but I had to draw the line,_

_And still this question keeps on spinning in my mind..._

_What if I had never let you go?_

Rose dragged her hand across her face, not caring that she was smudging her mascara. The TARDIS had long gone, and was probably in some far distant place and time by now. She couldn't help but imagine she was there now, learning this new man, this new Doctor, wondering if he really was hers. Seeing if she could find the man she knew in him.

_Would you be the man I used to know?_

_If I stayed, if you tried, if we could only turn back time,_

_But I guess, we'll never know._

Rose had never wished more fervently that time would change back. That everything she'd said and done after her Doctor had vanished to be replaced by this man. But what was the face? He was still the same man.

_Many roads to take, some to joy, some to heart-ache_

_Anyone can lose their way_

Rose turned slowly from the spot where she'd last seen the TARDIS, she felt her eyes pass over the places where she'd used to enjoy visiting with Mickey. Places which had formed the person she was before she met the Doctor before he saved her.

_And if I said that we could turn it back,_

_Right back to the start, _

_Would you take the chance and make the change? _

She closed her eyes as she felt the wind wash over her. The rustle of the leaves on the tree would always remind her of the way the air moved around the TARDIS.

_Do you think how it could've been sometimes?_

"Rose."

She turned abruptly, not recognising the voice, but recognising the tone.

She felt her mouth smile slightly as her eyes alighted on the lithe, scruffy haired man who'd left her mere minutes earlier.

"I know you think I'm someone totally different, but I'm still him...still me. Basically, Rose, I'm still the Doctor. I just have a different face..." he paused, looking slightly bemused, "very cheap plastic surgery if you think about it...but that's not the point."

He stepped out of the TARDIS, and walked towards her, extending his hand.

_Do you pray that I'd never left your side?_

"Come with me, Rose," he asked quietly.

Rose hesitated, looking at his hand.

"If you don't want to, it's fine. I mean I want you to come, but only if you want to...it would be nice to have someone along who already knew the rules, but I can travel on my own if you want..."

Rose smiled as the Doctor continued to burble. She took a step forward and pressed a finger to his lips.

"If you'll be quiet for a minute, I'll give you an answer", Rose smiled as the Doctor's eyes softened.

In that moment, when he smiled gently at her, she saw her Doctor. And it was in that moment that she truly realised he was her Doctor, and he always would be her Doctor.

She slid her hand into his.

"Run..."


End file.
